The purification of biological molecules such as antibodies, other therapeutic proteins, virus and virus-like particles, and DNA plasmids for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes is hindered when the biological molecules to be purified are chemically complexed with contaminants. Complexed contaminants decrease the efficiency of the purification process, decrease the reproducibility of the purification process, and affect the stability and pharmacodynamics of the purified biological molecule.
In addition to or in combination with contaminant complexation, biological molecules such as antibodies and therapeutic proteins can also form aggregates. These aggregates render the molecules less biologically active and can increase the immunogenicity of the biological molecule.